Tools

"... Purpose: Mobile devices are increasingly used for text entry in contexts where visual attention is fragmented and graphical information is inadequate, yet the current solutions to typing on virtual keyboards make it a visually-demanding task. This work looks at assistive technologies and interface a ..."

Purpose: Mobile devices are increasingly used for text entry in contexts where visual attention is fragmented and graphical information is inadequate, yet the current solutions to typing on virtual keyboards make it a visually-demanding task. This work looks at assistive technologies and interface attributes as tools to ease the task. Methods: We performed two within-subject experiments with 23 and 17 participants, respectively. The first experiment was to understand how walking affected text-entry performance and additionally to assess how effective assistive technologies can be in mobile contexts. On the second experiment, we developed and evaluated adaptive keyboards featuring character prediction and pre-attentive attributes to ease visual demands of text-entry interfaces. Results: We found both text-input speed and overall quality to be affected in mobile situations. Contrary to our expectations, assistive technologies proved ineffective with visual feedback. The second experiment showed that pre-attentive attributes do not affect users ’ performance on task-entry tasks, even though we measured a 3.3 – 4.3 % decrease on Error Rates. Conclusions: We found that users reduce walking speed to compensate challenges placed by mobile text-entry. Caution should be exercised when transferring assistive technologies to mobile contexts, since they need adaptations to address mobile users ’ needs. Also, while pre-attentive attributes seemingly have no effect on experienced QWERTY typists ’ performance, they showed promise for both novice users and typists in attention-demanding contexts.

...w walking speed correlates tostarget acquisition performance, showing that to maintain selection accuracy userssneed to reduce speed by 26%, as compared to their preferred pace. Schildbach andsRukzio =-=[23]-=- looked at target selection using thumbs and reading tasks, showing asdecrease in performance and increase in perceived workload. The authors built as4stest track, similar to the one described in expe...

"... oldenburg.de An emerging technology for tourism information systems is mobile Augmented Reality using the position and orien-tation sensors of recent smartphones. State-of-the-art mo-bile Augmented Reality application accompanies the Aug-mented Reality visualization with a small mini-map to pro-vide ..."

oldenburg.de An emerging technology for tourism information systems is mobile Augmented Reality using the position and orien-tation sensors of recent smartphones. State-of-the-art mo-bile Augmented Reality application accompanies the Aug-mented Reality visualization with a small mini-map to pro-vide an overview of nearby points of interest (POIs). In this paper we develop an alternative visualization for nearby POIs based on off-screen visualization techniques for digital maps. The off-screen visualization uses arrows directly em-bedded into the Augmented Reality scene which point at the POIs. In the conducted study 26 participants explored nearby POIs and had to interpret their position. We show that participants are faster and can interpret the position of POIs more precisely with the developed visualization tech-nique.

"... Flashcard systems typically help students learn facts (e.g., definitions, names, and dates), relying on intense initial memoriztion with subsequent tests delayed up to days later. This approach does not exploit the short, sparse, and mobile opportunities for microlearning throughout the day, nor doe ..."

Flashcard systems typically help students learn facts (e.g., definitions, names, and dates), relying on intense initial memoriztion with subsequent tests delayed up to days later. This approach does not exploit the short, sparse, and mobile opportunities for microlearning throughout the day, nor does it support learners who need the motivation that comes from successful study sessions. In contrast, our MemReflex system of adaptive flashcards gives fast-feedback by retesting new items in quick succession, dynamically scheduling future tests according to a model of the learner’s memory. We evaluate MemReflex across three user studies. In the first two studies, we demonstrate its effectiveness for both audio and text modalities, even while walking and distracted. In the third study of second-language vocabulary learning, we show how MemReflex enhanced learner accuracy, confidence, and perceptions of control and success. Overall, the work suggests new directions for mobile microlearning and “micro activities ” in general.

...ties for microlearning are likely to occur while the learner is walking. However, previous studies in mobile HCI have shown the negative effects of walking on visual selection and reading performance =-=[21]-=-. The trade-off between walking speed and interaction performance has also been investigated, with the finding that visual target acquisition plateaus at 40–80% of the user’s preferred walking speed [...

"... Flashcard systems typically help students learn facts (e.g., definitions, names, and dates), relying on intense initial memoriztion with subsequent tests delayed up to days later. This approach does not exploit the short, sparse, and mobile opportunities for microlearning throughout the day, nor doe ..."

Flashcard systems typically help students learn facts (e.g., definitions, names, and dates), relying on intense initial memoriztion with subsequent tests delayed up to days later. This approach does not exploit the short, sparse, and mobile opportunities for microlearning throughout the day, nor does it support learners who need the motivation that comes from successful study sessions. In contrast, our MemReflex system of adaptive flashcards gives fast-feedback by retesting new items in quick succession, dynamically scheduling future tests according to a model of the learner’s memory. We evaluate MemReflex across three user studies. In the first two studies, we demonstrate its effectiveness for both audio and text modalities, even while walking and distracted. In the third study of second-language vocabulary learning, we show how MemReflex enhanced learner accuracy, confidence, and perceptions of control and success. Overall, the work suggests new directions for mobile microlearning and “micro activities ” in general.

...ties for microlearning are likely to occur while the learner is walking. However, previous studies in mobile HCI have shown the negative effects of walking on visual selection and reading performance =-=[21]-=-. The trade-off between walking speed and interaction performance has also been investigated, with the finding that visual target acquisition plateaus at 40–80% of the user’s preferred walking speed [...

"... Abstract. This paper investigates the effects of encumbrance (holding different types of objects while using mobile devices) to understand the interaction difficulties that it causes. An experiment was conducted where participants performed a target acquisition task on a touchscreen mobile phone whi ..."

Abstract. This paper investigates the effects of encumbrance (holding different types of objects while using mobile devices) to understand the interaction difficulties that it causes. An experiment was conducted where participants performed a target acquisition task on a touchscreen mobile phone while carrying different types of bags and boxes. Mobility was also evaluated since people carry items from one place to another. Motion capture hardware was used to track hand and arm postures to examine how holding the different types of objects caused excessive movement and instability therefore resulting in performance to decline. The results showed encumbrance and mobility caused target accuracy to decrease although input while holding the box under the nondominant arm was more accurate and exerted quicker targeting times than holding no objects. Encumbrance affected the dominant hand more than the nondominant hand as targeting error significantly increased and caused greater hand instability. The issues caused by encumbrance suggest the topic requires more attention from researchers and users would benefit greatly if better interaction techniques and applications are developed to counteract the problems.

... The results showed a trade-off between button size and the amount of effort and time required to scroll the screen to make the appropriate selection. This was also discussed by Schildbach and Rukzio =-=[15]-=-. The performance of their WUI prototype was comparable to an equivalent static interface although it was not as effective as a fixed layout with larger sized buttons. Goel et al.[3] and Nicolau and J...

"... Emerging research and growing use of mobile projectors re-veal a need for better understanding of how to design inter-action with such devices. This paper examines key aspects affecting the use of mobile projectors during motion. With the help of two prototypes we explore visibility issues of mo-bil ..."

Emerging research and growing use of mobile projectors re-veal a need for better understanding of how to design inter-action with such devices. This paper examines key aspects affecting the use of mobile projectors during motion. With the help of two prototypes we explore visibility issues of mo-bile projectors, in particular how surface colors and geometry affect the visibility of projected information. We then con-sider the choice of placement of information in the human field of view in the context of peripersonal and extrapersonal spaces. Finally, we raise the issue of body mount location and design implications of long-term use of this type of pervasive display. The paper presents two design explorations using projected displays to address projection on outdoor regular surfaces (snow) and projection on indoor irregular surfaces (indoor and outdoor), in the form of useable prototypes pre-senting map navigation. Use of the prototypes was explored in various contexts, leading to insights into the limitations and possibilities of such displays. These insights are presented in a set of design considerations intended to inform designers of future mobile projector applications.

...ubjective measures than on a defined walking path [1]. Cognitive load depends on walking speed [23], but increases significantly during walking while reading or selecting a target on the mobile phone =-=[31]-=-. An outdoor study has shown that young adults can modify their gait speed in order to maintain their typing speed [26]. When looking at prolonged use, a study on mobile phone text messaging has revea...

"... Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of font size, interline spacing, and a tech-nology called ReadingMate on the letter-counting task performance of users running on a treadmill. Background: Few researchers have investigated how runners read text while running on a treadm ..."

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of font size, interline spacing, and a tech-nology called ReadingMate on the letter-counting task performance of users running on a treadmill. Background: Few researchers have investigated how runners read text while running on a treadmill. Our previ-ous studies showed that ReadingMate had positive effects on the reading-while-running experience; however, the effect of other text conditions (i.e., font size and interline spacing) and the interplay between ReadingMate and such text conditions on the letter-counting task performance are not clearly understood. Method: Fifteen participants were recruited for the experiment. There were three main factors: display types (normal and ReadingMate), font sizes (8, 12, 16, and 20 point), and interline spacing (1.0×, 1.5×, 2.0×, and 2.5×). The researchers employed a letter-counting task. The performance was measured regarding task performance time, success rate of counting the target letter f, and number of give-ups. Results: Overall, the letter-counting task perfor-mance while running on a treadmill improved as font size and interline spacing increased, as expected. Read-ingMate was more effective than normal display par-ticularly when text was displayed in a small font size and with dense interline spacing. Conclusion: When text must be displayed in a small font size and with dense interline spacing, ReadingMate can be used to improve the users ’ task performance. Application: Practical applications of ReadingMate include improving the text-reading experience in shaky environments, such as in aviation, construction, and trans-portation.

"... Abstract-The pervasive presence of devices exploited to use and deliver entertainment text-based content can make reading easier to get but more difficult to enjoy, in particular for people with reading-related disabilities. The main solutions that allow overcoming some of the difficulties experien ..."

Abstract-The pervasive presence of devices exploited to use and deliver entertainment text-based content can make reading easier to get but more difficult to enjoy, in particular for people with reading-related disabilities. The main solutions that allow overcoming some of the difficulties experienced by users with specific and special needs are based on content adaptation and user profiling. This paper presents a system that aims to improve content legibility by exploiting experiential transcoding techniques. The system we propose tracks users&apos; behaviors so as to provide a tailored adaptation of textual content, in order to fit the needs of a specific user on the several different devices she/he actually uses.

...s, while readability is related to reading and understanding textual information [2, 3, 4]. It is worth noting that text formatting characteristics can strongly affect enjoying reading [5, 6]. Aspects of text formatting that users may need to adapt are: font face, text size, background and text colors, line height, words and letters spacing, text alignment. Several studies have been done to identify which settings better support users according to their specific reading abilities [7], by considering that they may change according to: the device in use, including eBooks, tablets, smartphones [8], smart TVs [9] and ATMs [10]; users’ specific needs, such as the ones related to the context of use [8] and the ones related to specific users’ conditions (including reading disabilities [4, 11] and ageing [5]). Outcomes from all these previous studies have been taken into account in our work. B. Elements adaptation on demand Some eAccessibility studies have emphasized the importance of adapting only those parts of content that represent an effective barrier to users. This way, the whole content and its layout are not distorted, and customization is just limited to those elements that reall...